Sealed sleeve type bearing



Aug. 8, 1950 E. A. LAMPE SEALED SLEEVE TYPE BEARING Filed Oct. 15, 1948fnVE'nZUP EZmerflLam e fm zg Patented Aug. 8, 1950 llNITED,;..,S ATEPATENT OFFICE 'JSEALED SLEEVE ,TYPE BEARING y y nmer' 4; Lampe, Chicago,n.

' i Application-october 15, 1948, Serial No. 54,800

This invention relates to an improved sleeve bearing assembly whichsealingly encloses both radial andthrust bearing members. Specificallythe invention relates to a sleeve bearing ball assembly or inner unitfor a selfaligning pillow-block or other mounting unit wherein the ballmember is composed of lubricant chamber-defining mating die cast ormolded half sectionshaving seal carrying sleeves and held in matedrelation by press fits on a porous orported bearing sleeve receivinglubricant from the chamben- I i M 1 Heretofore, lubricated sleevebearings have been deficient in failing to provide for lubrication ofthe thrust bearing surfaces, or, if such surfaces were lubricated, .infailing to provide for loss of lubricant. As aresult, sleeve bearingshave been unsuitable for many installations wherein lubrication isnecessary and loss of lubricant due to 'oil throwing. to surroundingstructure is objectionable. Further, heretofore known sleeve bearingball assemblies have required expensive cast or molded onee piece ballmembers which require complicated cores and must be machined to finisheddimensions after casting at considerable cost. V

, According to the present invention, ball membersfor sleeve bearingassemblies are made in mating half sections and are equipped withsleeves for carrying seals which prevent loss of lubricant and ingressof dirt to the bearing surfaces. These half ball sections are press fitonto the opposite ends of a porous metal or a ported metalcylindricalsleeve. Theball sections define a lubricant chamber andlubricant is fed through r the sleeve to the interior bearing surfacethereof.

Ashaft or other, member supported in the sleeve "extends throughtheseals and a thrust collar is locked thereon for. riding against one endface of the bearing sleeve. This thrust collar is enclosed in one of theextensions or sleeves of the ball assembly, and is lubricated from theball chamber withoutpermitting leakage of lubricant to the outside ofthe ball assembly. The ball member is carried in a pillow block or otherplete pillow block mounting unit. .1. Figure 3'is anexplodedlongitudinal cross-sect'c'laims. (c1. cos-36.1)

member carriesits own seals and encases a thrust collar so that both theradial bearing surfaces of the sleeve and the thrust bearing surfaces ofthe collar are lubricated from a chamber in the ball member withoutpermitting loss of lubricant.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a ball assemblyfor a sleeve bearing or the like which is composed of mating halfsections that are easily molded to define a lubricant chamber and tohouse seal members.

A specific object of the invention is to provide a split ball member fora sleeve bearing which can be made with inexpensive dies and can be usedwithout machining.

Another specific object of the invention is to provide a sleeve bearingassembly which mounts a safety or thrust collar inside of a housing andwhich has seals on the housing sealingly connected with the shaft orother member carried by the bearing.

Still another object of the invention is to pro vide a sleeve typebearing which is absolutely .oil tight and, at the same time, providessufiicient lubrication to take care of axial thrust.

Other and further objects of the invention will be apparent to thoseskilled in the art from the following detailed description of theaccompanying sheet of drawings which, by way ofa preferred example only,illustrates one embodiment of the invention.

On the drawings:

Figure lis a longitudinal cross-sectional view taken along the line I--Iof Figure ;2 and with parts in side elevation, showing a sleeve bearingball assembly according to this invention mounted in a pillowblockhousing and carrying a shaft.

. Figure 2 is an end elevational view, with parts in transverse crosssection, taken along the line II-II of Figure l and also illustratingthe comtional view of the parts of the sleeve bearing ball assembly ofthis invention, illustrating. the manner in which the assembly is made.

. Asshown on the drawings:

In Figures 1 and 2, the reference numeral [0 designates generally asleeve bearing ball assembly tiltably mounted in a pillow block H androtatably carrying a shaft l2. The pillow block I I has a base or cradleportion l3 with mounting feet l4,"| 4and a central block portion'l5,with .a semi-circular recess l5a therein having a concave bearing wall.The feet l4; id have bolt yholesalllq; Ma therethrough for receivingbolts to fixedly position the cradle member [3 on a support. The centralblock I5 of the cradle [3 has slots 5, l6 extending therethrough fromthe top to the bottom thereof adjacent each side of the recess therein,A metal strap ll of transversely bowed contour to provide a concaveinner bearing face Ila has a semi-circular portion extending above therecess of the central block portion l5 to cooperate therewith forforming a complete circle. Side'leg portions of the strap Il extendthrough the slots l6, l6 and are turned inwardly under the bottom of theblock l5 to form retaining flanges l'lb which secure to the cradle.

The ball assembly i6 is composed of half ball I sections l8 and i9, apair of seals 28 carried by these half ball sections, a porous bearingsleeve 2| mounted in the ball sections, and a thrust collar 22 securedto the shaft !2 by means of-a set screw 23.

The half ball section l8 has a semi-ball portion [8a at one end thereofand a cylindrical sleeve I812 at the other end thereof with anintermediate thickened portion or rib 180 there- 'between. The semi-ballportion lBa. has a recess 18d therein terminating at one end at a flatannular face H36, and at the other end at the"- thicker portion [80. Thesleeve IBb provides a cylindrical chamber l8 extending in wardly to anabutment shoulder lily of thel thickened portion I80. A cylindrical bore1871 through the thickened portion lBc connects the chambers Mid and [8A groove l8i is formed in the end face I86 to receive a sealing gasketas hereinafter described.

The ball section I9 is substantially identical with the ball section 18,except that the sleeve portion l9b thereof is shorter than the sleeveportion 181). Parts of the ball section Illidentical with parts of theball section it; have been designated with corresponding referencenumerals. v

As best shown in Figure 3, a gasket ring 24- is disposeclsbetween theannular end faces l8eand I9e 'of the half sections 18 and I9 and isadapted 'to fit in the recesses I81 and I92 of these end faces. Thebearing sleeve 2| is also positioned between the half sections I8 andl9, and the bores 18h and I9h of these half sections are press fit ontothe ends-of the sleeve to bring the faces I8e and We into abuttingrelation with the gasket 24' sealingly compressed in the recesses ofthese end'f'aces, whereupon the ball member ID has the sections l8 andl9thereof united in sea-led engagement and the portions 18a and [9acooperate to form a hollow ball.

"The shaft l2, as shown in Figure 1,.extends through the sleeve 2| andbeyond theends of the ball unit Ill. The thrust collar 22 is disposedaround the shaftand is positioned in the sleeve chamber l8f adjacent theshoulder lllg. The set screw 23 is then tightened to lock the collar onthe .shaft for carrying thrust loads. It will be appreciated that in ashaft assembly-the next ball unit will have the collar on the oppositeside thereof, so that the two adjacent collars will cooperate to holdthe shaft against axial movement. It will be further appreciated that,if desired, two identical ball sections l8 can be used with eachreceiving a collar 22 to carry the thrust loads.

, In order to tighten the set screw 23on the shaft. the sleeve 18b has ahole 25 through the top portion thereof for receiving a screw driver ortrre'1ike.= If-desired, this hole can be plugged the strap ing thecentral portion of the sleeve 2|.

with a cork, but, since it is in the top of the unit, oil will not flowout of the hole unless the unit is used in inverted position.

The seals 20 have metal casings 20a adapted to be press fit into thesleeves 18b and I9b respectively, and these casings carry rubber orother resiliently deformable rings 201) with lips affording contactsurfaces for resiliently engaging the shaft l2. 7

The chambers 18d and llldof the ball sections i841 and I9? cooperatetoform a central lubricant chamber 0, as shown in Figure 1, surround-Lubricant is fed to this chamber through a fitting 26 adapted to freelyextend through the aperture rim-the top of the strap ll of the pillowblock .ll. Since-the sleeve H is preferably composed of sinteredpowdered metal, such as bronze or the like bearing material, lubricantfrom the chamber C can penetrate the sleeve to lubricate the -bearingsurfaces thereof includin the inner cylindrical surface and the endfaces am there of. One of these end faces Zlcextends into the sleeve l8bbeyond the shoulder I8g thereof to engage the collar 22 and provide thethrust bearingfor the assembly. If this end face 2m wears down, thecollar will engage the shoulder |8g and the shaft I2 Will still beaxially retained.

The sleeve bearing ball assembly Ill can tilt in the pillow block H toaccommodate any misalignments between the shaft and the pillow blockmounting, but the concave walls l5a and Na of thepill'ow block willretain the ball faces [8a and 19a against free endwis'e movement in thepillow block, while-the fitting 26 will hold the ball unit againstrotation in the pillow block. The ballsections l8 and 19 are easilymolded or die cast, and need not be machine finished, since the moldingsor castings can be accurately sized'w-ithin tolerance limits that willsatisfy all of the requirements o'fthe assembly. Thus the gasket 24 willaccommodate any irregularities in the endfaces 18c and I9e, and thepress fit relation 'of'the bores l8h and. l9h' on the bearing sleeve '21will accommodate some variation in size. If necessary, the bearingsleeve 2| can be reamed after it is press fit intothe ball members.

Since the ball'memb'ers carry their own seals, any tilting of the shaftrelative to the pillow block will not bind in loosen :the seals.

From the above description, it should be understood that theinvention-provides an inexpensive sleeve bearing ball assemblycomposedof easily made parts which are easily assembled and made interchangeableto accommodate various installations. Both h'al'f sections of the ballmember can be equipped with long sleeves, such as the sleeve 18b,t'o-receive thrust'collarsor, if such thr ust collars are not used, bothsections of the ball member can have short sleeves,such lllb. The. samemold can be used to produce both the long sleeve-ballsection "[8 and theshort e1ee've ball section l9 by inserting a filler piece to block offthat portion of the mold section which produces *the longer sleeve lBbwhen it is desired to produce the shorter sleeve I 9b.

It will, of course, be understood that various details of constructionmay be-varied through a wide range without departing from the principlesof this invention and it is, therefore, not the purpose to limit thepatent granted hereon otherwise than necessitated by the scope of theappended claims.

El. A-bcaringassemb'ly comprising a pillow block having a cradle portionwith mounting feet and a centrally recessed block portion carrying astrap coacting with the recess to form a ball retainer, a lubricantchamber-defining ball member tiltably mounted in said retainer andcomposed of mating half sections, a sleeve bearing in said ball memberhaving endportions pressed in the mating sections thereof to hold thesections in abutted relation, said ball member having extended endportions beyond the bearing sleeve, seals carried in said extended endportions, and. a thrust collar between a seal and the end of the bearingsleeve in one of said extended end portions.

2. A bearing assembly comprising a pillow block having a base portionand a metal strap portion coacting therewith to define a ball re tainer,a ball member tiltably mounted in said ball retainer and having acentral lubricant chamber, a sleeve bearing mounted in said ball memberand arranged to receive lubricant from the chamber thereof, said ballmember having extended end portions beyond the sleeve, seals in saidextended end portions, and a thrust collar between one of said seals andthe adjacent end of the sleeve.

3. A sleeve bearing ball assembly comprising a pair of mating ballmembers, a sleeve bearing receiving said ball members in press fitrelation on the ends thereof, said ball members defining a lubricantchamber around the sleeve member and having extended end portions beyondthe ends of the sleeve member, seals carried in said extended endportions, and a thrust washer in one extended end portion between theseal and the adjacent end of the bearing sleeve.

4. In a sleeve bearing ball assembly for mounting a shaft or the like, ahollow lubricant reservoir-defining ball member having opposed laterallyextended hollow end portions, a porous bearing sleeve secured in saidball member and extending through the lubricant reservoir into said endportions, seals in said end portions in spaced relation from the ends ofthe bearing sleeve, a thrust collar in one end portion between the sealtherein and the adjacent end 'of the bearing sleeve, locking means onsaid thrust collar for securing the collar to a shaft or the likecarried by the sleeve bearing, said end portion receiving the thrustcollar therein having an opening giving access to said locking means,and said thrust collar having an end face adapted to ride on theadjacent end of the bearing sleeve for carrying axial thrust loads,whereby said porous bearing sleeve will transfer lubricant therethroughfrom the reservoir to the inserted shaft and to the thrust collar whilesaid seals will prevent leakage of lubricant from the assembly.

5. In a sleeve bearing assembly for a shaft or the like, a body memberhaving a lubricant reservoir, a shaft-receiving sleeve bearin mounted insaid body member, hollow extended sleeve portions on the ends of thebody member beyond the ends of the sleeve bearing, a shaft-receivingthrust collar in at least one of said hollow sleeve portions of the bodymember, means for locking said collar on a shaft extending through thebearing sleeve, whereby the collar will coact with an adjacent portionof the assembly to carry thrust loads, and seals in both extended sleeveportions of the body member for preventing loss of lubricant from thereservoir while permitting free lubrication of the sleeve bearing andthe thrust collar.

6. In a self-aligning bearing, a lubricant reservoir-defining hollowball member having laterally extending sleeves and alignedreduced-diameter bores containing the insides of the sleeves with theinside of the lubricant reservoir, a plain bearing sleeve extendingthrough said ball member across the lubricant chamber therein and havingend portions press-fitted into said bores, means for feeding lubricantinto said reservoir, and seals in the laterally extending sleeves of theball member for retaining lubricant leaking from the reservoir throughthe sleeve bearing.

7. In a self-aligning bearing, a ball member having a central lubricantreservoir and laterally extending cylindrical end portions, a poroussleeve bearing press-fitted into said ball member and extending acrossthe lubricant reservoir therein to terminate in said cylindricalendportions, shaft seals in said cylindrical end portions in spacedrelation from the ends of the sleeve bearing, a shaft thrust collar inat least one of said cylindrical end portions between the shaft seal andthe end of the sleeve bearing, a set screw in said thrust collar foranchoring the collar to a shaft, whereby axial thrust loads will becarried on an end of the sleeve bearing, and a tool hole in thecylindrical end portion containing the thrust collar giving access tothe set screw whereby the thrust collar can be locked on an insertedshaft, said lubricant reservoir supplying lubricant through said bearingsleeve to an inserted shaft and to the thrust collar, and said sealspreventing leakage of lubricant from the ball member.

ELMER A. LAMPE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references .are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS

